Acquisition
by Wicked R
Summary: Jack, Elizabeth, a kid. Variations on the same theme.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Acquisition

Author: WickedRum

Disclaimer: I have no right to use these characters, Disney does. This is mainly for my own enjoyment.

Summary/Set: Anamaria visits Elizabeth. If I say more, I'd give it away. Post AWE one shot, variation on a theme. If you wanna see anything better read Lakritzwolf's Generations.

Rating: PG.

Pairing/Genre: Sparrabeth friendship

Elizabeth went round the house to bring her vegetables in and that was when she noticed it. The figure that was in the alleyway when she went out a few minutes earlier was still there, only a little closer. Nobody has ever bothered her since she moved to Curacao with her young son, nobody had suspected she was a pirate, not even with the large riches she so called inherited from her father. Yet she had to stay argus-eyed, any cloaky person around her back garden was worthy to be investigated in case it caused a threat to the son of the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, not to mention the chest buried around the carrots. She turned a little to the side so she could get her hands on the gun she always kept hidden on the porch for such occasions and watched as the figure started towards her.

The intruder stepped over the fence and she was just about to pull the gun out when the person took the hood off. Her brown hair spilled onto her shoulders and onto the head of a little girl she held in her hand, mixing with the curly locks of the child's hair, all the same color. She hadn't seen her for years, but it couldn't be anybody else, but the courageous, self conscious and beautiful woman pirate Jack once had in his crew, Anamaria. Could it be a coincidence, the two of them meeting, and that with Anamaria trespassing into her garden deliberately, "oh my!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"

"Having a word," Anamaria said confidently, giving her an appreciative smile at the gun under the creases of her skirt.

Elizabeth backed, letting her enter, "sit down. Would you like any milk for your baby?"

"I don't have much time," she apologized, not sitting down, "ship should be leaving before we get detected."

"Anything I can help you with?" Elizabeth offered, but Anamaria disregarded her and continued as if with the same sentence.

"And it's not my baby. It's a rather complicated story, but as you have decided yourself, a pirate ship is no place for a small child. To cut matters short Jack entrusted me with the life of his child to bring her here and leave her with you."

Jack's child? She looked at her conversation partner dumbfounded. It wasn't that Jack didn't even bother asking her, it wasn't that Jack would just leave his daughter, not caring if he saw her again, it wasn't that he hasn't come himself, it wasn't that he did find out somehow where she lived. The question escaped her, "if you're not the mother..."

Anamaria shrugged, "she'd dead, that's all I know," she shoved the child into her hands.

"But...but..." She tried to stop her leaving as the girl seemed to be starting to get unsettled in a stranger's hands, "will he...ever?"

Anamaria anticipated the question, "I don't think he would. It would be dangerous, for the child and you, for anybody to see him him here, to find out a connection between you. Her name's Pearl," she turned one last time to smile at the baby.

Elizabeth still rushed after her, then slowed her steps as she saw the soldiers going down the street. Anamaria was right, she had to hide Pearl, keep her safe.

The baby intertwined her finger with Elizabeth's hair, pulling strongly and making her yelp in pain. An image popped up in her mind, those long dreadlocks of Jack's in Pearl's fingers. Out of all the people on earth Jack had left her with her, no, Jack had trusted her with his only daughter, to her knowledge that is. Wouldn't that mean she didn't have to wake up night by night to the horror of having left Jack to the Kraken? She cuddled the child up, feeling her heart fill with devotion. Pearl, her savior.

The End.


	2. Tight

Version 2: Tight

"Pirates!"

The word echoed loudly against the outside walls of the once governor's house and there was a second echo inside Elizabeth heart in the form of a cold dread, making her squint. She jumped to the balcony to see several forms running through the trees, ignoring the gunshots, followed by a large group of red coats. She didn't know who the pirates were and at this moment in time she had no time to care. The only place they could've been safe in the middle of a town like Port Royal, even if for a moment was this very house. "You stay here!" She shouted at her son by the table and made her way down the stairs in a rush. She opened the door wincing at the sound of clashing swords close by, was she too late and have the pirates been hunted down? There was some shuffling of feet and as she ran to see where from she got roughly pushed back into the house, making her knock against the wall a little. She got herself together and looked up, "Jack??"

"No place fe a pirate king," he commented gruffly, waving around in the hall, but his warm eyes as he took in the sight of her told her he was otherwise quite happy to see her. "Elizabeth darlin..." He smiled at her.

"You have to hide," Elizabeth tried to pull him inside and towards the staircase.

"Didn't come to hide," he gave a half roll of his hips self confidently and pointed backwards with his cutlass, "held them up a lil, luv."

"Others will be coming," she assured him. The crusade against any pirate has intensified even more if at all possible, since the defeat they have inflicted on the navvy.

"That's right, Lizzie, and that's why we have to do this quick, savvy?" And without much ado, he handed her over the little bundle he held in his other hand.

Elizabeth stared blankly for a moment at the moving package before actually realizing what it was. It's not as if she hasn't seen a baby before, but what was it doing with Jack? How could Jack mind a child properly? By taking it into the line of fire? Maternal instinct took over and she carefully looked the baby over as much as she could, still in the folded up clothes she was placed in. Pink, breathing, quietly sleeping, mouth moving to a sucking motion and blood??

Jack noticed her dread immediately, "she's alright, not her blood."

It was then he saw the redness on all his front and her mind went into overdrive, "where are you injured Jack? Let me help you, sit down."

"Not that bad luv," he assured her.

By the amount of that precious fluid on him that was far from true, "we both know..."

"We both know there's no time," he interrupted her, "I came to ask ye that favor? Fe what ye did to me?"

"Anything, Jack," she shook her head desperately as there were more gunshots and heard from closer this time.

"Me girl. Alisha. A pirate's life...no fe her, Lizzie," he stumbled towards the door, "do what ye can?"

Elizabeth bit her lip, nearly crying, "I'll never let her go," she assured him. She closed her eyes struck motionless as she could hear a sword fight outside just as Jack stepped out, but then she saw him hurrying down the alley. She was almost sure this was the last time she was going to see Jack Sparrow.

tbc/The End, I mean another version's coming up!


	3. Accent

Version 3: Accented

"Mr. Gibbs! There's a boy on the top of the mast!" Ragetti pointed.

"Bilge!" Gibbs waved him off without bothering to look. They've been out on the open sea for two days, so his crew member was either drunk or listening too much to ghost stories lately, "ye can't see good wit that wooden eye of yers!"

"I swear on that very eye, Mr. Gibbs! There's a boy on the top of the main mast!"

"Belay that talk ye quailing blaggard," Gibbs pulled a discontented face, "what are ye...blimey! There's a boy on the top of the mast!" He leaned back on the railing to take a better look, then quickly jumped back to where he was before and looked around suspiciously. Everything was the same, Ragetti and Pintel pointing up at the child, the parrot already exploring him from close, the black sails and the flag with the sparrow, the holes on deck from their last encounter that they haven't managed to get to repair so far.

Yet the boy, round seven, eight, was on the top of the mast, with his bare feet secure on the single line leading to the bowsprit, long black hair blown back in the wind, not minding them and unwaveringly gazing into the horizon. Remarkably like the one he had seen on a ship called Wicked Wench some thirty odd years ago. Gibbs raised his eyebrows, bewildered. Unless Jack has found the Fountain Of Youth, took a large swig and has forgotten to tell them about it, what he was experiencing wasn't really a possibility. He contemplated for a moment what he should do. "Ahoy!" He shouted, than gave up. Talking to the boy wasn't really conceivable given the strength of the wind and he certainly wasn't in the shape to just simply climb after the little devil just like in the past when Captain Bootstrap entrusted him to bring Jackie safely down as he was the only one the son of the keeper of the code would listen to, at least to some extent. Pointless exercise that proved to be most of the time too as Jack was most likely to just use the rigging and swing down himself when he was about to reach him.

Suddenly a certain memory flashed up in his mind. "Marty! To the galley! Make pancakes! Don't ask, jest do it! Make sure there's a smell to it!" He positioned himself by the stairs below and sure enough, a good quarter of an hour later the boy stood in front of him, suspiciously weighing him up and whether he'd let him go down.

"Provisions not fe free, young man."

"I know how to steer and turn and trim, I could help," he said confidently.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at the similarities, "those are fe the cap'n of a ship and whoever he entrusts wit it. Ye aim too high, boy. How about telling me what ye doing here fe starters?"

"Just curious about my father," he shrugged.

"Aye, I figured that much, although I doubt said father would know anything about yer existence? Aye, I figured that one too," Gibbs shook his head amused, "and I'd assume yer mother would know nothing about ye being here curious about yer father, ei?"

"What's wit the pancakes at this time??" Jack appeared on deck too.

"No fer ye cap'n, I gave specific orders not to rum soak them." Tastes did change over time. Gibbs stepped aside to give Jack the whole view and turned himself so that he can enjoy the look on his captain's face.

Jack squinted, then slowly inched closer to the boy, nearing his nose to his face. Then he turned all of sudden on his heals and marched back to Gibbs, putting an arm over the older man's shoulders cordially, "Mr. Gibbs."

"Yes, cap'n."

"I feel remarkably sullen and unusual."

"Aye, that should be appropriate cap'n. May I remind ye that we were going to attack a certain Manila Galleon called Gilt Deer and soon!"

Jack frowned and stepped forward again, "yer name, boy," he looked him in the eye, but he already figured out the answer, or at least the important part of it.

"Jaxon Turner, to your service captain," he looked at Jack with optimist eyes.

Jack took a big breath, "set new course. We're taking a detour to Port Royal to drop a certain child off the governor's house."

Gibbs gulped, letting go of Jack and backtracking a little, "ye didn't Jack??"

"Apparently I did me Gibbs, apparently I did. Bring the rum, we need to drink to his future pirate education then!" He added, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The End.


	4. Pocketed

A further disclaimer here, I know this idea pretty much features in all fandoms at some point, but this particular one appeared to me when reading some of Irony Chan's fics, so sorry if I can't remember the name right.

Note: this one's not really a Sparrabeth fic, as opposed to the most of my other fics.

Version 4: Pocketed

When Elizabeth opened the front door of her house and saw Joshamee Gibbs standing there she knew something was wrong. She'd seen the Pearl docking at Charleston and had the privilege to share a few unchosen words with Barbossa, but neither him or anybody else could tell her anything new about Jack or Mr. Gibbs on that count. Having the chance to see old friends was usually matter for celebration though no matter what and she felt like hugging the old sea rover cordially, but something stood in the way. Somebody to be exact.

Gibbs was standing hesitantly in front of her with an apprehensive expression, half inclined to hide the child he was holding in his arms somewhere.

The boy, there was no doubt in her mind about that even though the child was not much older than her own one year old William, didn't turn towards her, but was bouncing up and down in the man's arms excitedly, pointing back at something in the harbor.

"I'm sorry to bother ye Mrs. Turner..." Gibbs started, the stalled, looking what could be interpreted as kind of pleadingly at her.

"But of course, come on in, come in, would you want some trifle? A bagel for the child to munch on? My little Willy could play for hours with one of those," she cleared a chair for the visitors to sit on, delaying hearing any news she didn't want to hear, "rum?" She finally offered as a last attempt.

Mr. Gibbs rubbed his face, "I'll get enough of that right down at the tavern lass, once it's done what has to," he scared Elizabeth even more, then finally delivered the final blow, "Jack said if anything happens to him I should come to ye and well, ye could say something happened...I don't know how to say this to ye, but I swear on me mother's chastity it's the truth..."

Elizabeth more collapsed then sat in the chair next to them, not minding she was sitting in some spilled baking powder she forgot to clean up earlier. She rubbed her knuckles to each other nervously, only noticing at the last moment that the table cloth was slowly being pulled down with the cake on it by a couple of tiny little grabbing hands. Used to jumping before innocent disasters could happen, she reached out to tear the cloth out the child's hands carefully.

The boy pulled away at the contact with the stranger and shied away by Gibbs' shoulder, but not before taking a fleeting glimpse into her eyes.

It was the first time she really looked at the child properly, previously she was too busy dealing with her fears. Her mouth remained agape and her eyes grew wide as she searched Gibbs inquisitively. The little one had deep brown eyes, the quirky smile of a boy who knew he was doing mischief when almost pulling the plates down, black hair, a full bottom lip and the vigor in those movements of his. The little boy could not have been anybody else's than Jack's and his presence with Gibbs only accentuated her worries for her friend.

"Have ye heard about the legend of the Fountain of Youth that would even bring dead back to life?" Gibbs brought his voice down when asking.

"How could I not with Barbossa shouting in my ears about some map?"

"Map, aye, we had that, and the compass too, we couldn't miss it if we tried. Jack was trying it out first and...I kinda figure that the water isn't so much of life, but more like restoring the youth of anyone who drinks it as invulnerable he didn't become. I also found out three big gulps would be a bit too much fe someone of Jack's age. I mean the age he was...before...ye know what I mean?"

Elizabeth's eyes went even wider this time and she stopped breathing for a moment, "you say Jack..." She tried to point at the child, but in her incredulity it was more like a shaky wave.

"Aye, Jack. He can't talk, understand much of what's happening, know not to eat a compass...Anamaria figured he'd be like one and a half and ye can expect no more of him than any other yearling. Mrs. Turner, I don't know how to care fe a baby," Gibbs said worriedly, "and without me captain I needed to find some work on some ship. The Stern Ivory is leaving tomorrow morning with me as quartermaster, but I cannot take a child wit me. I will come back fe him, ye can trust ol' Gibbs, I have to teach 'im some piracy ye see."

Elizabeth looked from one to another, not sure whether to laugh or cry. The Jack she knew as her friend she came to trust with her life was as she suspected gone in all ways that mattered. But there was this child, bursting of life, looking for comfort with pouty lips, hanging on to his surrogate papa. Innocent, unknowing, pure. On impulse she reached out to look at the child's wrist and even before she could look for the branded P, Gibbs shook his head.

"I thought of that too, it's not there, there's nothing of Jack Sparrow. It's little Jackie Teague. But I'm not taking him back to his father. Anything, but that. He'll not have to go through that twice."

"Then he doesn't even have to grow up to be a pirate," Elizabeth pondered, herself trying to shake that existence, having started fresh, just as the ex governor's daughter. The furtherest away she kept William and the chest from any suspecting eyes that were aware of the Flying Dutchman the better.

"Ye think?" Gibbs recounted incredulously.

"He has a chance. He can be anything with that mind of his. Uncle Josh," she said determined, "don't come back. At least not for a while, till we see what I can do for Jackie."

Gibbs stood, a bit relieved. He would go to world's end for his captain, in fact he already did, but this wasn't his captain, "just don't make him join the navvy that's all I ask."

The End.

Aka there will be another version at some point.


End file.
